1 Student Dies, Others Injured in Texas School Bus Crash

MESQUITE, Texas — A school bus here was involved in a crash and caught on fire on Wednesday, killing one student and injuring three others.

Officials told The Dallas Morning News that as the Mesquite Independent School District bus was transporting 42 students from Terry Middle School on Wednesday afternoon, it rolled into a ditch and caught fire. Police confirmed to the newspaper and NBC 5 that the bus struck a power line. Passengers on board apparently used the back door and the rooftop hatch, both of which were open, to escape, according to NBC 5. One student was pronounced dead at the scene, The Dallas Morning News reports.

The school district posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday that three students were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but that “it is with a very heavy heart that we must confirm that today, we lost one student.” The district has not identified the student out of respect for her family’s privacy.

The school bus driver was hospitalized in good condition, the school district told The Dallas Morning News. Elizabeth Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Mesquite Independent School District, told the newspaper that the bus driver has had no history of crashes since he was hired in 2011.

The district also noted on Facebook that community members, school district employees, and first responders “acted quickly and risked their own lives” to help the students in the crash.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, according to NBC 5.